One

Sunday, January 24, 2010

A very sad time this evening. (I started this blog at 11:30 last night [Saturday] but am just now wanting to finish it..)..a member of our family for the past 7 years passed away suddenly this evening. "Angel"was our family dog, part Wheaton terrier, part Schnauzzer, and part Poodle...I nicknamed her a Schweepootzen.

The first phone call came at 8:45 last night that she was throwing up - new medications given for a heart murmur weren't agreeing with her. Half an hour later, she was not able to stand. Emergency call to the vet, tests were run - diagnosis was congestive heart failure. Treatment options were given and Angel was was to spend the night under medical supervision.

Ninety minutes later she went into cardiac arrest and was gone.

Angel (and Cujo, shown above with her) lived with my daughter for the past year and the hardest decision was not to call Christine and let her know whatwas happening. She has just started a new job and was undergoing orientation and training sessions until well after midnight and wouldn't be home until after 3 a.m. This morning Christine agreed that she was glad she hadn't know what was happening, so we are all relieved that the right decision was made, and that another heart wrenching decision was taken away from us.

For those of you who are pet lovers I don't have to describe the huge ouch that we are all feeling right now, and that the next few days will be hard ones. Its no less of a loss than losing a human family member, and in some ways its a harder pain, but I take comfort in knowing she was well and truly loved, pampered and always had a good home.

What kind of a blogger only reports every three weeks or so? I guess I had nothing very facinating to talk about. I just want to report that Jamie Tremain is still alive and kicking or writing should I say. I have organized myself to death this weekend and reread binders full of class information from Brian Henry's workshops http://quick-brown-fox/

I am working on the synopsis of Madelaine and new query letters. Then a list of Literary agents to submit our work. They all have different requirements. Some by snail mail and some online.

I was shut down a few minutes ago as Liz was blogging at the same time. I will let her blog speak for itself. Anyone who has gone through losing a pet knows the feeling.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Its a new day,a new year and a new decade. January 1st of any year is a chance to start again. This past year has been a year of uncertainty for many, least of all Liz and I. Added responsibilities at work and family issues kept us from giving our best to our writing, but we are bound and determined to make this our year.

The year was not wasted as we researched and read different authors in other genres. We honed our craft by learning from the experts. The highlight of our year was the convention in Ottawa ,"Bloody Words". Magazines such as the "Writer" and books written solely for the purpose of helping the aspiring writer become published were poured over for ideas and inspiration. Reading blogs on writing and finding out that we are not alone in our quest to be published authors. The writing world, and for that matter the Mystery writers we have met and have been in correspondence have been very generous of their time and help.

Because it is not a perfect world I will not be making any resolutions regarding writing. Life has a way of interfering all the time and there is no point in getting bent out of shape . Whatever is thrown at us next we can put to good use in an other book.

I have lots of ideas and characters for book #3 but I am getting ahead of myself.The deal is............get Madelaine published, finish Body Perfect and then start #3 Best wishes for 2010 to our faithful supporters this past year. Keep reading the blog. We appreciate your support.Slainte,